


The Beck and Call King: The Calling

by bowie_queen



Series: The Beck and Call Saga [3]
Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: F/M, Series Finale, Slow Burn, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Unrequited Hate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:00:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29303856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bowie_queen/pseuds/bowie_queen
Summary: Jareth left Sarah with an ultimatum.  With the (crystal) ball in her court, Sarah must decide whether to call on the Goblin King or let him become a distant memory as time goes by.
Relationships: Jareth/Sarah Williams
Series: The Beck and Call Saga [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2079681
Comments: 7
Kudos: 27





	The Beck and Call King: The Calling

**Author's Note:**

> Part 3 and final part of the Beck and Call saga. Parts one and two should be read first.

  


The Beck and Call King: The Calling! 

  


* * *

_ Two days after Jareth left the Aboveground:  _

  


"Tis the truth." 

  


"It is?" 

  


"Would we tell our lady falsehoods?" 

  


"I suppose not." 

  


"A fae, when they give their heart to another, can not tarnish another with their touch." 

  


Sarah sighed and thumped her head against the vanity. So Jareth was telling the truth. He had offered her his heart and he had been honest when he said he couldn't touch another being as a lover. She wondered why he doomed himself thus knowing she wasn't prepared to feel the same way. 

  


She rubbed her fist across her heart. She was so busy protecting her heart for the past few years of their tryst, and now she had the Goblin King's heart to look after as well. It wasn't f—

  


"My lady?" 

  


"I am quite alright, Sir Didymus." Sarah peered up to see the greying fox-like being who was fretfully looking down at her through her vanity mirror. "Thank you for letting me know."

  


He asked her, again, why she wished to know such information. She dismissed his question with a wave of her hand. 

  


"How does a fae give their heart to another?" Sarah grasped onto one of the last straws of hope. If Jareth hadn't truly given her his heart, then she knew how to act. It would be easier to deal with Jareth if she had proof of his duplicity. 

  


"It's different for each fae, my Lady." He ruffled his whiskers with his paw. "But saying the right words and offering a gift as a symbol is enough to bequeath one's heart to another." 

  


Sarah groaned again. So that crystal was truly his heart. The right words would denote a spell placed upon it. Her last chance would be somehow proving that crystal was just an ordinary crystal with no magic attached to it. 

  


She would need to find someone trained in magic to determine this for her. She doubted her friends were quite magical enough. In the meantime, she could at least track his movements. 

  


"Sir Didymus?" 

  


"My Lady?" 

  


"Sir Didymus, I have a noble quest for you." 

  


"Indeed, fair maiden?" 

  


"Let me know if your King even so much as looks at another person the way lovers do." She nibbled her lip as she considered what else to add. "If he has any dalliances or romances or intrigues, let me know. If he touches or kisses another—"

  


"My Lady, that is not a noble quest." Sarah watched as Sir Didymus bristled. "That sounds like spying on my King." 

  


"Yes."

  


"For you, anything." He twitched his nose in a bewildered manner. "But the King would be most displeased."

  


"I understand, but I must know of his behaviour." 

  


"As you wish." 

  


Sarah watched as the knight's eyes dimmed with his conflicting duties. 

  


"Thank you, Brave Sir Knight." 

* * *

  
  


_ Three weeks after Jareth leaves Aboveground:  _

  


It had been weeks. 

  


She had not summoned him. He hadn't expected it straight away, but after a few days since he laid down his ultimatum, he had expected to hear from her. Even just to ask some more pesky questions. 

  


But he had just gone the longest he had ever gone since he first set his owl eyes on her without seeing her; without hearing her voice; without holding her body close to his; without her soft lips against his. Not that it had been a regular occurrence but when it had happened, her kisses were sweeter than the nectar of the gods. 

  


Jareth felt foolish. And that was not something he was familiar or comfortable with. He was sure when he offered the ultimatum, she would see sense and declare her love for him. 

  


But she hadn't. She hadn't so much as touched his heart-offering. He would have felt it. 

  


He sighed as he opened his eyes to stare at the starry sky. He was currently lying on the roof of one of the turrets of his castle. The Goblins disliked heights so he was always sure to be alone up here. 

  


He closed his eyes again. Perhaps he should never have declared his feelings for her. Then he would still be with her once a week. Not how he wanted to be with her ultimately, but at least it was better than nothing at all. At least he could see her. 

  


But no. He had to be all or nothing. He couldn't woo her gently or ease his way out of their agreement. He had to dash it to the rocks and declare his love for her. He had to go even further than that and bequeath her his heart. 

  


Then like the fool he was, he banished himself from her side until she was ready to admit his feelings were not one-sided. 

  


No, he wasn't the fool. That interfering male mortal was the fool. 

  


Jareth should have taken the slow approach with her, that was true. Week by week he should have tried to woo her. But it was that male she tried to date. Damn that mortal who interfered. If he hadn't have caught Sarah's attention he wouldn't have been so rash in opening his heart to her. 

  


And scaring her off. 

  


The irony was that the other mortals he had been screwing wouldn't have hesitated in summoning him. 

  


He opened his eyes again to watch a shooting star sail through the skies. 

  


Like that star, Sarah was one in a million. He wouldn't want her as much if she didn't challenge him. The other mortals were nothing but mere distractions; mere playthings for his unscalable appetites. 

  


And challenge him, she did but there was one thing that he had learnt to regret during his last encounter with her. Something that he shouldn't have said. He should never have told her she'd break his heart. 

  


It showed he didn't trust her. And while he had started to have doubts, ultimately he believed she would come to love him. Why wouldn't she? She had dreamed about loving and being loved by him since she was a child. He'd never been far from her thoughts. He had seen her dreams from the moment she found that book. 

  


However, giving her his heart was a burden of responsibility he knew better than to lay at her door. She had already tried to break it once, though he never spoke of that to anyone. She was young and the magic she had used to severe herself from him had not been completed. But if she tried again it may just be enough to kill him. 

  


Sarah wasn't a fae and didn't understand the consequences of fae love. It happened but rarely, but when it did, it was forever and unbreakable. If one tried to break it, it would result in death. 

  


He had every intention of teaching her how to handle it, but right now he had placed too much on her. Damn that mortal male that tried to claim what was his. 

  


He rolled off the roof and landed soundlessly on his feet atop the turret wall. He strode along and swung himself back inside a window to his chambers. 

  


He had been depriving himself of a lot of sex lately and it had been nearly a month since he had last been with Sarah. He contented himself with his own touch but he was needing her warmth more and more each day. 

  


He growled as he threw himself onto his bed. He was never far from an erection when he thought of her. He pulled his trousers down viciously and wrapped his hand around his girth. He ran his hand a couple of times up and down his length languidly before he saw her green eyes flash across his mind's eye. 

  


He tightened his fist and jerked furiously up and down. His hips matched his hand, violently thrusting up and down as he watched her naked form writhe around in his memories. 

  


She was all he ever thought about when he took care of himself; which was occurring two or three times daily. It was getting painful. 

  


His hand was pumping furiously and he naturally used his precum as a lubricant as he tried to go even faster. He was so close. He imagined Sarah's hand in place of his own; imagined her telling him she loved him; imagined her body entwined with his as he made love to his queen. His cock tightened and with his thumb rubbing over his sensitive tip, he came in hot spurts and a deep groan. 

  


It was never enough to sate him. He cursed as he rolled onto his side and gripped a pillow to his torso. His chest where his heart had been, ached with longing for Sarah. He had to find a way to encourage her to call him. 

  


She had to call him. 

* * *

_ Four months after Jareth leaves the Aboveground: _

  


"Nothing to report." 

  


"Nothing? "

  


"No, my fair maiden. He sees his usual guests but he never makes any contact with them. At balls, he dances maybe once or twice with the host or hostess before he secludes himself." Didymus twitched his nose. "None of my spies have anything to report." 

  


"King sad." Ludo appeared over Sir Didymus' shoulder. 

  


Sarah felt the pinch of a frown line her forehead. "He's sad?" 

  


"Sadder than usual," Hoggle muttered from somewhere behind her other two friends. "He is always in a grump." 

  


"He doesn't see anybody, My Lady," Didymus added. "Unless he has to as part of his royal duties." 

  


It had been the same every time they reported. Every single time. The Goblin King remained celibate and emotionally detached from the perspective of her trio of friends. How reliable they were was still yet to be determined. 

  


She didn't trust Jareth. And Sir Didymus couldn't follow him Aboveground. So who knows what he did when he visited up here. 

  


"He has also remained Underground for the entirety of the time you have asked us to spy on him," Sir Didymus reported as if he had read her mind. 

  


Sarah raised a brow. "The entire time? How can you be sure?" 

  


"My lady, do you doubt my intelligence?" Sir Didymus clasped a paw to his chest. "I have someone tailing him at all times. Even when he is—" 

  


"Is what?" 

  


"In the privvy or—" 

  


"Or what?" 

  


"My Lady, that is to say—" 

  


"What?" 

  


"It's rather an invasion of my liege's privacy." 

  


"Why?" 

  


"We also have someone tailing him when he is in bed." 

  


"The rat's sleep sounds painful with the amount of thrashing and shouting he does. Serves him right." Hoggle's weathered face appeared in the mirror. 

  


Sarah watched as Sir Didymus closed his eyes and she was sure he was blushing under all that fur. 

  


"I see." Sarah rubbed her cheek as she watched the varied emotions flit across her friends' faces. 

  


"King calls for Sarah," Ludo chimed in. 

  


"What do you mean Ludo?" 

  


"King in bed." Ludo shuffled on the spot. "Calls Sarah's name." 

  


"Now we do not need to offend our fair maiden's ears, Sir Ludo." 

  


Sarah suddenly cottoned on and looked away from her friends to avoid their eye contact. Her friends were symbolic of her lost innocence, but she didn't want to strip them of theirs also. 

  


The mirror wavered and she knew her time would soon be up. 

  


"Why do ya need to knows?" Hoggle asked hands on hips. "Why ya sudden interest in the rat?"

  


Sarah fiddled with her makeup brush as she considered her answer. "He just strikes me as a liar and I want to catch him out in a lie he told me." 

  


"Harrumph." Hoggle turned away. "No point proving him a liar. Not going to change anything. He'll still be a rat, liar or no." 

  


No, perhaps nothing would change, Sarah thought. If she even proved his words to be the truth, then what would she do with that information? Would she call on him? Would she declare a change of heart? 

  


She thought of his heart sitting on her shelf. A small part of her was hoping he was truthful. A large part still doubted that he was. 

* * *

_ Six Months after Jareth left the Aboveground: _

  


"Higgle!" 

  


"Hoggle."

  


"Don't answer your King back." Jareth studied the ageing dwarf cowering in front of his throne. 

  


"Have you spoken to the Champion recently?" 

  


He watched as Huggie swallowed and wrung his hands together. He had his answer then. 

  


"The Champion…?" 

  


"Yes, you imbecile. The Champion. The one who bet my Labyrinth and won back her sibling." 

  


"Ah, that Champion." 

  


"Have you spoken to her recently?" 

  


Hogshead shuffled back and forth and Jareth grew tired of his display of ignorance. 

  


"Tell her, next time that you speak to her, that the Goblin King is thinking of her." 

  


"Yer Majesty?" 

  


"Tell her, Hogbreath, or I will force-feed you the toenails of the Marshslug while you're sitting in the leaky oubliette under the Bog of Eternal Stench." He paused for effect. "For a year." 

  


He watched as the pitiful creature fell to his knees and begged not to be fed the toenail clippings of the Marshslug. 

  


"Tell her I am thinking of her." 

  


* * *

  
  


"He's thinking of me?" 

  


"Yeah." 

  


"That's all he said?" 

  


"Yeah." 

  


Sarah sighed. The months were ticking by and she could hardly ignore his heart sitting there with not even a speck of dust to marr it. 

  


Perhaps all she needed to do was return it to the owner. 

**Author's Note:**

> Now I have two WIPs, I am going to be a little slow with updates for either haha.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed. And continue to enjoy where this goes until the conclusion. It's been fun.


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